Team-BHP - Reliance plans car service centers in their retail venture

Reliance malls may offer car servicing-India Business-NEWS-The Times of India

Looks like reliance wants to offer multi-brand car service in their malls...quite an interesting concept. I heard castrol bike zone is doing pretty well...so third party service may be the exact solution to the servicing gaps that exist.

Quote: "you can get your car washed or serviced, while you spend time shopping or catching a movie. "

Just hope they are talking to FIAT first please:

I have been a staunch supporter of the multibrand service station concept especially since the advent of Castrol BikeZones, coz when we need some serious tweaking we will surely take the vehicles to the experst ( authourised service centres), otherwise routine inspections and serviec actvities can be done by these guys and that too efficiently!

Looks like Reliance has to be wherever theres money to be made! On the face of it, I would surely trust reliance more than most players from the unorganised segment (who are pretty unorganised themselves).

Butttttttttttttttttt Reliance surely has an uphill task and is attempting the same thing that Mico Bosch did with their service centers. The gap (price and quality) is huge between authorised dealerships on one hand, and the cheaper urorganised segment on the other. Reliance attempts to bridge this gap offering standardisation as a value-driven package. I only dont understand their mall concept and targeting. What if I dont visit malls? It could be because of space availability.

Here is a related topic.

I hope they don't make it the circus which Bosch has done, atleast in Noida. I will never go there again. Last time I went to Tata service center (sterling, noida) I saw a couple of cars with that Bosch service center stickers on them. Looks like I am not the only one who has been "once bitten, twice shy"

For such centers that are within city limits, Reliance is going to face a lot of competition. People who go to A.S.S's can continue to go there, unless they are not happy with the A.S.S and want an alternate, formal service center.

Of those who go to local garage, I dont know how many would like to shift over to such service centers where the charges are going to be higher than the local garage. Rather, charges at centers such as those that Reliance wants to set up would be closer to the A.S.S than to the local garage.

One place where I would like to see a player like Reilance is in the rural areas. If Reliance can provide such a service at their pumps, then these places can serve as a reliable place for servicing for people who are out travelling. But then again, the rural consumer may not patronize such centers much because of the charges.

I also dont know to what extent would manufacturers provide official support, because this would mean direct competition to the A.S.S run by the dealers themselves.

I think it is a good move. Their pricing is going to be a key factor. Hope they can position some where between a local repair guy and authorized dealers like as GTO said. I would not hesitate to go to Reliance after warranty period is over. At least there will be choice and competition like in other sectors hopefully benefiting the consumer.

They need have similar workshops on highways too, one can avoid going to a local workshop.

Just reminds me of sams post from another thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi (Post 346892)

I'll tell you who's year 2007 will be.

The Indian Consumers.

I predict 2007 seeing a more satisfied Indian consumer, in terms of products, buying experience and after sales services.

This Reliance venture will be good and at a scale unheard of in India. When they say a team of industry experts from every field, they mean it. The level of service that they plan to offer the consumer is fantastic.

I wish I could tell you more but cannot due to certain restrictions.

Take my word for it, this venture are associated with everything top class, when it is ready for the public. Wait and watch. India is changing for the better.

This is good news and indeed a welcome effort from Reliance.

In Pune there is a multiplex named E-Square. Their parking lot has a car wash center, all you do is pay the parking fees, park your car/bike in the washing center queue. Come back from the movie and the car/bike is washed clean. Bike wash is Rs. 25/- and car wash is Rs. 100/-. I avail their services for my bike and I don't trust on handing over my car keys to anyone, forget the washing center guys.

Awesome Business Concept from Reliance !!

As we all know, Reliance has invested a lot of money in Petrol Pumps across the country.. A few of the pumps are in the cities or on the out-skirts of the cities christened as Reliance A1-Plazas. Looking at those A1-Plazas they have loads of space with quality food and beverages.. etc. Adding a service centre for oil-changes, wheel-alignment, tyre-repairs etc sounds like the perfect next step in the process of adding consumer value as more and more customers will prefer to fill from a reliance gas-station instead of others. In-effect, Reliance might do well to take advantage of the 80-20 rule.. 80% of the work in cars require only 20% of overall automobile knowledge..

Reliance should tie up with GM, Honda, Toyota, Skoda and even the Mahindra renault, etc to provide services to their vehicles.

Fiat should have waited a little longer and will certainly rue the missed opportunity to tie up with Reliance and instead tied up with a competitor like the Tata.